Sword Art Online: Quantum Bug
by Solus Ortis
Summary: Just as it took years for the secret heroes of WW2 to be acknowledged for their meritorious conduct... it's time for the hidden heroes of the death game Sword Art Online to get their chance in the spotlight. Watch as a young reporter brings forth hidden truths of the death game in the process.
1. Chapter 1

**Sword Art Online: Quantum Bug**

**Chapter 1**

**Retelling the False Realm**

* * *

><p><em>12 years ago the first VRMMORPG Sword Art Online was released and was supposed to be revolutionize the gaming industry along with the NerveGear which was supposed to revolutionize other fields, but it ultimately became known as the death game. On November 6 1PM Japan standard time 10,000 players were trapped in Aincrad by SAO's creator Kayaba Akihiko who's motivations for doing so. If you did in game you died in real life, and that was the truth of the new reality of these unfortunate few. 2 years later the game was finally cleared and the remaining players were allowed to return to their real lives thanks to the efforts of craftsman, gathers, and famous frontline fighters like Kirito the Black Swordsman. He may have been the one to hammer the final nail for victory and as a result have the world's attention drawn to him and his friends what with movie deals among other things, but much like the many wars that went down in history there were many brave players in SAO where without their sacrifices whether that involved their lives or not clearing the game would have been an impossible task. Though the names and accomplishments of these players were lost to history, don't you think that it's time for the names that remain to have their chance in the spotlight?<em>

"Let's see…. this should be the right address." A young woman with blonde hair mumbles as she reads off a small note after parking her car.

_That young woman was driving a small yellow convertible and had just parked it outside of a medium sized home in a popular suburban neighborhood that wasn't actually Japan. In fact that neighborhood was located in the USA, but that really isn't an important detail. That woman appeared to be no older than 23 nor younger than 20, had white skin, a soft shaped jaw, dark brown eyes, blonde hair as mentioned, was about 5' 7", and was wearing a dark blue businesswoman's style outfit with a matching purse over her left shoulder._

"He should be home." The young woman thought as she walked to the front door of this medium sized home.

_That young woman then rang the doorbell of this home, of which turn made a simple classical ding dong noise of no particular note past its purpose of getting the attention of any residents that happen to be inside._

"Daddy, someone's at the door!" a young boy yelled.

"Get your sister and play in your room, and I'll get the door!" an older sounding man yelled.

_The young lady on the outside could tell that presumably the boy's father wasn't that far from the door since the outer walls of this house didn't appear to be very soundproof. Or maybe they simply happen to have quite the set of lungs on them. Regardless the boy's father opens the door revealing himself to be a man in his late 20s or early 30s, with brown hair covering one half of his forehead, medium brown eyes, a beard, wearing a blue Hawaiian T-shirt, and a pair of light blue shorts._

"Kevin Thomas, correct? I'mEula Alright we talked on the phone yesterday." Eula said as she introduced herself.

"Yes I remember. Please go ahead and come inside." Kevin said as he gestured his hands towards the interior of his home.

_Eula followed Kevin to the dark brown wooden kitchen table just a stone throw's away from the freshly renovated kitchen, and that's where they decided to sit. It was then that Eula took out a small tape recorder and placed it on the kitchen table._

"Can I get you anything to drink? Some coffee, tea, or perhaps a soft drink?" Kevin asks as he tries to play the role of the respectful host.

"No thank you. I actually had a big lunch…. and now that I look around you have a lovely home Mr. Thomas." Eula said a she paid her host a compliment.

"Thank you, but it was really all of it was my wife's doing despite my constant protesting." Kevin retorts as he offers Eula a light chuckle.

"I thought she was going to be here for this." Eula retorts.

"She wanted to, but there was an emergency where she worked and her boss called her in." Kevin explained.

"Then I suppose we'll have to do this without her." Eula mumbled.

"Why exactly did you call yesterday? All you said was that you wanted to talk about the events of 14 years ago." Kevin curiously asks.

"As I mentioned on the phone I'm with CBS news. We're planning to do a 2 hour long documentary on the anniversary of the release of SAO 3 months from now. I convinced my boss to let me interview you for our documentary, and you're wife too since she's also an SAO survivor." Eula explained.

"Me? Wouldn't you rather interview Kirito 'The Black Swordsman'? What about Asuna 'The Flash' and former second in command of the Knights of the Blood? Heck I think even the blacksmith Lizbeth who made the Black Swordsman's weapons would have been a better choice." Kevin retorts with an understandable amount of surprise and confusion.

"I actually already talked to the three you mentioned and explained my intentions as I did to you. It was then they started telling me about you one of the foreign player's unfortunate enough to get caught in the death game of SAO. They told me a few stories about you that in my opinion should have been in the manga/anime series created as tribute to those lost in the event. They also hinted at a few key stories about clearing the game that never made it into the various novels written by other survivors. Basically they more or less said 'If you want to make an American documentary on the subject then ask one of the few players from your country', and I agreed completely." Eula explained.

Even so there were at least 4 other Americans that got caught in the game." Kevin retorts again.

"12 Americans were actually unfortunate enough to get caught in that death game, 7 including you survived until the end, but none of them had the reputation you did according to the other survivors I interviewed." Eula replies.

"Still why ask me at all?" Kevin asks as he's still surprised by Eula's explanations.

_But before Eula could respond, two little munchkins came running out of the kitchen. The first was the young boy Eula heard from earlier. He had the same hair color and hair style as his father, but his eyes were dark blue instead of brown. This poor lad was being chased by a girl younger than him. She had her mother's black hair, but at least she had her father's brown eyes._

"Yuki stop chasing your brother Jordan." Kevin said as he bellows out orders to his offspring.

_Kevin's children seemed to have enough respect to listen to him immediately, however what was most interesting about that moment was that Eula flinches for some reason when he says the name Jordan._

"But daddy, Jordan stole the wristband mommy won for me." Yuki plead.

"I did not. When you didn't go to my room like daddy asked I went into yours looking for you." Jordan retorts.

"Empty your pockets then Jordan." Kevin kindly says to his son.

"But daddy, I said I didn't take it." Jordan said thinking that his own father doesn't believe him.

"I'm not saying you did do it Jordan, but if you really didn't then the fastest way to prove your innocence is to show you don't have it." Kevin kindly explained to his son.

_Kevin's son Jordan only silently complied with his father's request and emptied his T-shirt and short pockets revealing them to be empty and as a result supporting Jordan's claim of innocent._

"There you see Yuki, it's clear your brother didn't take it. Now tell him you're sorry." Kevin said.

"Alright Jordan…. I'm….. sorry." Yuki says to her brother as she reluctantly swallows her little girl pride.

"Good. Now you two should go and look through your sister's room to see if you can find it, but if you really have trouble after a while let me know and I'll see what I can do to help." Kevin said as he pets the respective heads of his children.

"Okay daddy!" Jordan and Yuki yelled before they start running to Yuki's room.

"You seem to be a wonderful father. How old are they?" Eula curiously asks.

"Jordan is 6 and Yuki is 5. They were actually named after a couple of friends…. that my wife and I lost all those years ago." Kevin explained.

"Oh… um… I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you remember things that should stay buried." Eula urgently said.

"It's alright I've moved on, but… I don't deny it can be hard at times. Getting back on topic though… why ask me at all?" Kevin asks.

"Oh right…. ahem. I'll answer your question with one of my own. What better way to make a documentary about that war for survival then from talking to one of our citizens who was there? Though I do admit I was being rather vague when I called, so….. if you don't want to answer any of my questions I understand." Eula explained.

"No…. it's not fair for you to come all this way only to get nothing, but despite the few good times we SAO survivors in that game….. It's still hard for us to talk about." Kevin said as he momentarily has a sad and sullen look on his face.

"Then if you want to talk…. you go ahead and pick the starting point." Eula said.

"Then I guess I had better start from the beginning from my perspective." Kevin shrugs.

_Before Kevin could begin his story, Eula raised her right hand as if to stop him while grabbing her tape recorder with the opposite hand._

"This is reporter Eula Alright talking to Kevin Thomas former leader of the SAO guild Terminus Zwei. Inte…" Eula started to say.

"Now hold on Terminus Zwei is still active on a variety of VRMMORPGs and I'm still the leader, but I've just been too busy to play any recently because of a project at work." Kevin interrupts.

"Ah let me try that again….. ahem….. This is reporter Eula Alright talking to Kevin Thomas leader of the former SAO only guild Terminus Zwei." Eula said as she spoke into her tape recorder.

"It all started 14 years ago when I was 15, on the day before the SAO servers went live I arrived in Japan to take part in a one-year foreign exchange student program. I was actually supposed to arrive a few days earlier, but my plane got grounded for mechanical errors. Anyways I was going to be staying with the family of my dad's old college roommate. Unlike me he had three kids instead of two, and the four of us actually grew up together up until they had to move back to Japan. It would be the first time in 5 years that we were going to see each other, and by pure coincidence we'd all be going to the same school too." Kevin explained.

* * *

><p><em>Now imagine yourself staring at a TV screen watching everything that's happened so far from Kevin's perspective. You press the rewind button on your remote and you witness 14 years of Kevin's life go by in reverse. You press the button again when you see the gangway connect between the airplane and the terminal gate.<em>

"ANA Flight 374 now arriving at Gate 12 of Tokyo international airport." A random airport employee said over a PA system.

_Within minutes the passengers aboard this aircraft started to debark. Some were tourists from another country, others were tourists from other parts of this country, and the rest were simply ordinary citizens returning home. Like out of some classical cliché the teenager Kevin was the last passenger off the plan. Asides from the obvious lack of wrinkles and grey hair expected of youth, the teenaged Kevin has the same hairstyle as his older self only a little longer, his eyes were more of a lighter hazel brown, and he was wearing a red Nautica jacket along with blue jeans white shoes and a dark blue backpack over his shoulder._

"My friends back home are going to be so jealous when they find out I'm here." Kevin thought performing a quick arm stretch while literally running out of the gate and coming to a stop shortly thereafter.

_Then as Kevin calmly searches through one of his pants pockets, he suddenly and urgently starts searching through the rest of them as if he was trying to find something important. He then gives up after searching vigorously through his backpack and walks up to the nearby airline gate agent with the intention of asking her a question._

"Yes can I help you?" the airline gate agent asked the moment she saw Kevin walk up to him.

"If it's possible could you please let me back on the plane? I brought a map of the airport with me, and I marked on it where I was going to meet the people that were supposed to pick me up." Kevin said as he tried to explain his situation to this agent as respectfully as possible.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow that. Do you remember where you were supposed to meet them? If you do I can give you directions that'll take you right there." the airline gate agent asks wishing to help the foreign tourist to be on his way.

"It was supposed to be the baggage claim area for this flight." Kevin answered.

"Ah in that case after you through customs go down the large pathway to your left, then down the first escalator you see on your right and you'll see the baggage claim for this craft before you reach the bottom. Your luggage if you brought any with you for this flight will be on the machine in the back.

"Thank you very much ma'am." Kevin said with much appreciation.

_After checking in with customs, Kevin quickly made his way to baggage claim but he didn't have to worry about picking anything up since most of his belongings should have already been shipped to this country._

"Kevin? By the saints so it is!" a teenage boy yelled.

"Ha ha there's only one person that uses lines from old school text games like that." Kevin said as he starts busting out laughing.

_Kevin turns around only to find a young tan skinned man a foot and a half shorter than him, with curly black hair, blue eyes, medium frame, and is wearing a blue T-shirt with matching blue pants. He's standing to an older gentleman with a dark grey beard and hair, of who must clearly be his father._

"Yuki Takashita, how are you my old friend? You literally haven't grown an inch since the last time I saw you." Kevin said as he shook hands with his old friend.

"Hey I grew half a foot since we last saw each other." Yuki retorts with a friendly yet annoyed tone.

"It's nice to you again too Uncle Takashita." Kevin said as he offers Yuki's father a more firm and serious handshake.

"You're looking more like your father every day." Mr. Takashita said as he returns Kevin's handshake.

"What are you looking for?" Yuki asks as he notices Kevin glancing back and forth across this particular section of the airport.

Where are your 2 sisters? I thought they'd be here too." Kevin said as he explained the reason for his constant glancing.

"My eldest hasn't been back to her apartment for days. She's been sleeping at work trying to finish an important project by tomorrow." Mr. Takashita explained.

"And though Haruhi will deny it…. she's been so excited at the prospect of seeing you for the past couple of days that she hasn't slept at all. Despite our constant reminders that we'd be picking you up right now at 6 PM….. well she fell asleep 4 hours ago and we gave up on trying to wake her up." Yuki explained.

"Yes well Haruhi practically worships the letters you send to each other every month." Mr. Takashita said.

"You've been messaging each other? How am I just hearing about this?"a surprised Yuki asked.

"I didn't have an e-mail account back then, but she seemed to really enjoy the novelty of physical letters so we keep talking to each other that way even though we knew the other's e-mail already. As for answering your question…. Maybe it's because you're not tall enough to see the inside of your mailbox." Kevin explained as he makes another short joke at Yuki's expense.

"Well you have my approval to further your relationship if it comes to it." Mr. Takashita said in an approving tone.

"I had every intention of doing that uncle." Kevin said clearly missing the double meaning of his proxy uncle's statement.

"Dad, you realize it went completely right over his head right?" Yuki asks his father.

"I do son, but anyways if we want to beat the traffic and make the reservation on time we should leave now." Mr. Takashita pointed out.

"Reservation?" Kevin said with a confused look on his face.

"Well the three of us talked about it last night and thought you'd want to enjoy cuisine from home after getting off the airplane, so I pulled a few strings and got a reservation and a popular western restaurant near where we live." Mr. Takashita explains.

"Then with all due respect sir, do you mind if we stop by your home first? It wouldn't be very fun if we all couldn't go out together." Kevin asks in the most respectful manner he can.

"Don't worry I was planning to do that anyway, and besides once Haruhi hears your voice I'm sure she'll wake right up." Yuki said as he places his hand on his old friend's shoulder.

"My god you can actually reach my shoulder now? It's a Christmas miracle." Kevin said in a tone of false amazement.

"Really Kevin? I mean really?" Yuki retorts.

* * *

><p><em>Kevin arrives at his host family's residence just under an hour and half later. It's a two story house though it is still made with a compact design concept.<em>

"You seriously slid backwards down a flight of stairs?" Yuki said resisting the urge to burst out laughing as he's the first one through the front door.

"I know it's funny so drop it already." Kevin retorts as he closes the front door behind him since he was the last one in.

_For some reason the moment Kevin closes the front door behind him a loud thud can be heard coming from upstairs as if something fell off of a high surface only to hit the floor._

"Seriously…. that's what wakes her up?" Yuki said out of amazement.

"Huh….. arghhhhhh! Wait Dad Yuki, I know we're late but don't leave without me!" a young girl yelled with a slight Japanese accent.

"And she's the only one to pick up the accent after coming home 5 years ago? Wait that was Haruhi right?" Kevin said with the same level of amazement as Yuki.

_Feet quickly and hashing pounding on the floor, drawers nearly being ripped off of their hinges, and clothes being scattered all over the place. These sounds and more can be heard up until a door on the second floor of this home can be heard slamming shut. Then downstairs these three young men can see a young lady no older than 13 run across the upstairs railing wearing wrinkled black pants and a formal white shirt so heavily disheveled and improperly buttoned that her bra and cleavage is partially visible. The young lady herself is a few inches shorter than Kevin, has tan skin, brown eyes, shoulder length fine black hair, has an ivory bracelet on her right arm, and has perfectly balanced yet small proportioned._

"Hey Haruhi, how is it going?" I ask.

"Kevin…. eeeep!" Haruhi yelled before running back the way she came as her face turned as red as a cherry.

_Haruhi's destination for her escape was her room, and the moment she arrived she once more slammed her bedroom door behind her._

"Great I can't believe I let Kevin see me like this….. it's so embarrassing. Daaaaad… why didn't you wake me up?" Haruhi asks from her bedroom.

"We tried." The dad and son duo answered.

_With some light coaxing, Haruhi's father was able to convince her to come with the rest of them to dinner. While the meal itself was enjoyable and filled with light pleasantries, its irrelevant compared to what's to come. At any rate the happy family and her newfound member arrive home a little after 10 only to continue their light pleasantries for a few more minutes. _

"I'm going to turn in since I have to get to the hospital early tomorrow." Mr. Takashita said just barely holding back a yawn before he went upstairs to his room.

"I think I'll go to bed too. I want to get up early tomorrow so I can show you around the neighborhood, and….. when we get back I'll give you the surprise courtesy of our big sister.. Oh, and you're room's directly across from my sister's just so you know." Yuki revealed before adjourning to his room as well.

_And so Kevin and Haruhi were left alone in the dark watching late night specials, of which Kevin can understand thanks to the miracle of English subtitles. _

"Say Haruhi do you still have the first letter I ever send you?" Kevin asks.

"I'll always….. hold it….. close." Haruhi answered.

"Oh good….. I ask because…" Kevin started to say, but all of a sudden he was rendered silent.

* * *

><p><em>And the reason he was rendered silent was because he found Haruhi fast asleep using his shoulder as a pillow and left arm as a sort of stuffed animal. If Kevin knew the layout of this home in advance he would have carried Haruhi to her room, but he doesn't so he decides to let her sleep there in order to avoid the risk of disturbing her.<em>

"Good night Haruhi. I'll see you in the morning." Kevin whispers in Haruhi's ear as he moves her bangs out of her face.

_Kevin would have liked to sleep in his new room on his first evening in a strange new country, but ultimately he falls asleep as well with a pretty girl in his arms. The following morning on November 6__th__ however, he and Haruhi are victims of severe teasing inflicted upon them by Yuki especially since there were pictures taken and posted on social media sites. Naturally the younger sister attempts to enact a horrible revenge on her older brother, but Kevin helps Yuki escape from that fate into town before she gets a chance. For some reason Yuki takes Kevin past every game store in his neighborhood in his efforts to get him familiar with it. Basically for the next several hours Kevin's tour of his home for a year went from grocery store, game store, movie theater, game store, train station, game store, arcade, game store, board game store, game store, and so on and so forth. One detail in common that all of these places had however was that they all had advertisements for Sword Art Online the first Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game in history plastered all over. After concluding his tour of the neighborhood, Yuki gets Kevin back home just a little past 2:20pm JST._

"Alright Yuki you've been…. huh…. I thought Haruhi would be here to greet us." Kevin said when he notices the lack of Yuki's little sister's presence.

"Oh she's probably just logged in right now." Yuki retorts.

"Logged in? Logged into what? Well whatever….. look you've been ambiguous about it long enough. Just what the heck is this surprise your big sister set up?" Kevin demands to know.

"Oh believe me when I tell you what my big sister's surprise is you'll worship the very ground she walks on for the rest of your life. I'll explain in a moment, but for now follow me upstairs." Yuki explained as given by the size of the grin he's trying to hold back this surprise must be a big one.

"Come on man at least start explaining." Kevin said as he almost desperately wants to know what this surprise is.

"Alright I'll explain, but first a question….. how much have you heard about Sword Art Online?" Yuki asks.

"The first VRMMORPG in history, of which will revolutionize the gaming industry thanks to the Nerve Gear invented by Kayaba Akihiko. Thanks to that invention you won't just look at your character pushing the door you'll look through his eyes as he pushes it and fell the sensation in your fingers. A game that's as of this moment only being released in Japan, of which I curse you for. Anyways unlike most traditional fantasy based games there's no magic system for players, but instead sword skills for the players to use. In fact from what I've seen of beta test videos that leaked on the internet only a few monsters can use magic and even then it's still rare. The servers should have gone live about 20-25 minutes ago." Kevin said as he continues to talk excitedly about SAO.

"I see you've done my research. Actually this local release is nothing more than a large scale beta test in the grand scheme of things because you know how some bugs don't pop up in an mmo unless a lot of players are putting the system through its paces. Once these bugs are addressed there's actually been talk for the creation of international servers and by proxy an international release." Yuki explained as he and Kevin stop in front of Kevin's room.

"How do you even know that? And why are we stopping in front of my room for that matter?" Kevin asks as he still can't figure out the point Yuki's trying to make.

"Just open your door and look on the bed." Yuki said.

"I still don't see what the big deal is, so so so so so so so so…" Kevin said as he starts mumbling the same word over and over again like an idiot the moment he saw what was on his bed.

_The reason Kevin started mumbling like an idiot was that even though he could barely read a word of Japanese… even he isn't so far gone that he can't recognize the sight of a Nerve Gear still in its packaging._

"I can't believe I'm seeing an actual Nerve Gear in person….. oh my god I'm so giddy right now and I don't why. Wait…. is this uploaded with what I think it is?" Kevin said as he starts to get the point Yuki was trying to make whilst now tap dancing like an idiot.

"Sword Art Online has indeed been installed on that Nerve Gear and Haruhi is probably waiting for us in the Town of Beginnings or already in the fields with her friends, but first we need to register that piece of hardware to you. You see the reason I know so much about the game is because Haruhi and I were beta testers." Yuki explained.

"Oh my god man I can't believe it thank you thank you thank you. Oh if it wasn't for the fact that you were a dude and Haruhi would kill me I'd kiss you right now." Kevin said in the giddiest of manners as he gives Yuki a bear hug shaking him rather vigorously.

"Put me down… put me down….. I need to help you through the process and I can't do that if my vocal cords are coated in vomit." Yuki plead.

"Sorry I guess I got a little too excited." Kevin said as he grants Yuki his request.

"It's cool, but there's one thing I should tell you. SAO is region locked so you won't be able the game outside of Japan, but…. my sister called in a huge favor at work and modified that nerve gear so that you'll be able to play SAO with us when you have to go back home." Yuki explained.

"Come here man and give me another hug." Kevin said as he approaches Yuki with his arms wide open.

"No! Put your arms down!" Yuki yelled as he doesn't want to go through his experience from a few moments ago again.

"Wait… how was your sister able to pull this off? I thought she was just a computer and software engineer?" Kevin asks.

"She is exactly that and we should see her later, but surely you can put 2 and 2 together and figure out just what the project she was working on was?" Yuki retorts.

"No…. noo….. nooooo freaking way!" Kevin yelled as at last it finally clicks.

"As I said you'll worship the very ground our big sis walks on." Yuki said with a smile.

"Oh you bet I will. Now come on let's get this party started." Kevin said as he mauls apart the box the nerve gear came in.

"One more thing." Yuki said.

"Oh come on now you're quoting Jackie Chan's grandpa?" Kevin said out of annoyance.

"Don't worry just a couple more things. First you'll want to change into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. We'll probably be under for several hours, so you'll want to reduce how much sweat you give off. Next we have to calibrate the Nerve Gear to your movements, of which you'll do by touching yourself." Yuki explained.

"I'm sorry, but what?" Kevin said as he's hoping to dear god that he's misunderstanding the last part of his friend's sentence.

"Change into more comfortable clothes." Yuki said.

"No I mean the other part." Kevin retorts.

"Touch your….. ohhhhh no no no not like that. It's just that after you turn in on for the first time the Nerve Gear will enter the calibration test program immediately. It'll give you a few on screen instructions asking you to touch different parts of your body with your hands." Yuki explained as he now gets the reason for his friend's confusion.

"Oh…. okay thank god." Kevin said as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well I'm going to go change, and I'll be back to see how you're doing in a few moments." Yuki said before he left Kevin's room.

_Despite the overwhelming amount of excitement that Kevin felt traveling through every fiber of his being, he doesn't immediately change into the kind of outfit recommended by his friend but instead spends 20 minutes straightening up his room. The reason he cleaned his room was to in some way calm that excitement he was feeling, however the moment he finishes he changes into a pair of blue shorts and a white t-shirt._

"You almost done?" Yuki asks as he comes into Kevin's room about 5 minutes later wearing a similar outfit as him.

"Just this last one and I'll be done." Kevin answered as he tries to touch his hands to his toes.

_The moment Kevin was done with those calibrations he breathed a sigh of relief since he wasn't expecting just how far he'd have to stretch his body for a simple test._

"Alright what's next?" Kevin asks.

"Just say 'Link Start' and follow the on screen instructions. Normally you'd create an account on the official SAO website, but you can also create one form the log-in screen once you get to it." Yuki explained.

"This is probably a stupid question, but how will I follow any of the onscreen instructions without a physical mouse?" Kevin curiously asks.

"Once you start the game your body will feel like its being suspended in zero gravity. As for following the on-screen instructions just literally think of the response and the system will respond accordingly. When you get to the character creation screen however….. that's where you get a little more physical with customizing your avatar." Yuki explained though it seemed he had a hard time figuring out a way to even hint at that last part.

"What do you mean by 'a little more physical' Yuki?" Kevin asks.

"It's kind of hard to describe… but you'll understand once you see it for yourself. Well I'm going to log in now, so best of luck to you." Yuki said as he turned to leave his room.

"Hang on how am I going to find you in game if I have no idea what you'll look like?" Kevin says rather suddenly.

"Oh yeah that's right….. okay when you log in you should appear in the courtyard just outside of the Black Iron Palace. Just stay there and I'll call out for you by your real name, but if on an off chance you don't spawn there… do you know how to open the menu in SAO?" Yuki explained before asking his old friend another question.

"Has it changed since the beta test at all?" Kevin asks.

"No it hasn't." Yuki answered.

"Then yeah I know how from the videos of the beta tests that leaked onto the internet. I've watched those videos so many times that I more or less have the layout memorized." Kevin retorts.

"If by off chance you don't spawn in that courtyard open up the menu, select your inbox, and write a message to me telling me where you are. I'll be using the same avatar from the beta test, so my screen name will be Zwei Est." Yuki informed.

"Alright I got….. I don't have any more questions." Kevin informed.

"Good… now be sure just to walk into the light, and I'll see you on the other side." Yuki said before he left Kevin's room.

"Don't make it sound like I'm going to die trying to play this game!" Kevin yelled though it's only a matter of time before he realizes the cruelty and irony of that statement.

_Once again to get rid of his built up nerves, Kevin carefully straitens his shirt and adjusts his shorts before he comfortably rests his head against his pillow._

"Okay….. here we go….. Link Start!" Kevin yelled.

* * *

><p><em>As Yuki described the first sensation Kevin felt was a sense of weightlessness, then it's as if he's being thrust into a tunnel of white light before streaks of different colors fly past him, then there's the language selection screen, the log-in screen, and finally the character creation screen.<em>

"Wow it's like I'm standing in space." Kevin said out of amazement of the design of the character creation screen.

_That statement of his was very accurate as Kevin could see starts, planets, gas giants, black holes and the like, but this area was still none the less a room as there were clearly defined corners and Kevin could feel that he was standing on a solid surface._

"Holy crap it's me….. holy crap I'm still in my street clothes!" Kevin yelled as he starts to understand what Yuki meant by being more "Physical" when it came to character creation.

_Even though Kevin knew he was in a virtual world right now he saw both what appeared to be an emotionless looking clone of himself standing on a podium and that he was wearing what he had on before he started the game. That was likely due to the Nerve Gear somehow pulling the information from his memory, but there are more important things to do right now._

"Oh so this is what Yuki meant." Kevin mumbled to himself after taking the time to calm himself down and examine the character creation room in detail.

_Here in the character creation room Kevin saw a sort of keyboard/mouse like object simply floating in front of the podium and to the right various boxes stacked on top of each other with things like hair color, eye color, skin tone, and the like written inside them._

"Okay let's do this." Kevin said cracking his knuckles before he got to work customizing his avatar.

_If this were a simple PC MMORPG Kevin would have just clicked the randomize button or this game's equivalent to it until a combination of features he likes pops up, but in this case it's almost as if he's giving his true self a body to walk around in so naturally he puts into effort into it. First he changes his avatar's hair to a bright hero red color, lengthens in to be a few inches past shoulder length, and has it pop out more or be more puffy depending on your preference like one of those few bad-ass male anime/video game characters. Next he changes his eyes to a darker crimson color, selects a heavily white with a touch of black color scheme for his starting armor, then he adds more muscle definition of his avatar to make him seem a bit muscular, and finally he selects his starting weapon to be small sword._

"Alright… now for a name. Hmmmm….. oh I got it. Okay…. your….. no our name will be Terminus Ashbell." Kevin whispered to this model presentation of his avatar as if it were a real person.

* * *

><p><em>With the power of his mind Kevin clicked "Okay" on his character confirmation and then he confirmed his choice as final causing a sudden burst of a bright light to blind him followed by another sense of weightlessness. Over the course of a few seconds those two sensations start to slowly disappear up until Kevin can finally open his own two eyes. Once he does open his eyes the first thing he sees is a few players gathered around one of the stone columns in the center plaza.<em>

"No way…. My hair is really red and my armor is white….. everything really worked." Kevin mumbled as the excitement he's feeling starts to boil over.

"I know it's the first day of launch, but a few friends of mine are trying to put a guild together. Granted it'll be a while before we can cover guild creation fee, but do you want to join?" a player to the left of Kevin or rather Terminus said as he asks a third player a question.

"I know a perfect field to go to on Floor 1 if you really want a challenge. Now if it hasn't changed since the beta test you'll need to go out the north exit and keep walking along the path for a few minutes. You should see a large boulder covered in moss, and if you do that's where you want to be." A player to the right of terminus said to a female player or rather player with a female avatar.

_Well I say player with a female avatar because you never know if someone created an avatar of the opposite gender in games like this._

"Thank you Mr. Beta Tester." The player with a female avatar said with a smile on his/her face before running off.

"I have to say it….. THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!" Kevin or again Terminus as I'll call him by form this point on screamed to the sky at the top of his lungs not caring in the slightest about who heard him.

"Hell yeah it is!" another player yelled apparently agreeing with Terminus.

"Only you would have made an ass of yourself like this in public. How do you like the game so far Kevin?" a male player said with an extremely familiar voice.

_Terminus turned to face his speaker and found that he had a very strong resemblance to his friend Yuki only this player had white hair, yellow eyes, he was much closer to Terminus in height, and his starting armor had a green color scheme._

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" Terminus asks feigning ignorance even though he already knows who this player really is.

"Kevin it's me Zwei Est or you know Yuki if you forgot my real name." Zwei explained as he's surprised that his friend or rather that the person he thinks is his friend doesn't recognize him.

"Okay look I already know we're not supposed to share this, but my real name is Aizen man. I have no idea who you're talking about." Terminus said wanting to see how far he could take this prank on his friend.

"Oh I'm sorry for bothering you. Geez did that idiot get lost? Or is he still in the character creation room?" Zwei mumbled to himself.

"Wow….. even in game I'm still taller than you Yuki." Terminus said in a conniving tone deciding to drop the act to see if friend would realize the joke.

"Dude….. that's not funny man. I was about to message my sister and tell her to come back to town looking for you." Zwei said in a happy yet annoyed tone.

"Sorry…. I just wanted to see how far I could take it. Anyways where's Haruhi?" Terminus said in an apologetic manner.

"Dendra as her avatar is called is somewhere in the eastern fields just outside of town doing a group quest with a couple friends from school. Speaking of which, what is your screen name? I want to call you by that while we're here." Zwei asks.

"It's Terminus Ashbell my friend or Terminus for short." Terminus explains.

"In that case you can just call me Zwei for short." Zwei said with a smile.

"So let's go catch up with Haruhi then Zwei." Terminus said to his old friend as he starts to walk off in a random direction.

"Wait…. stop right there." Zwei suddenly said as he grabs Terminus by the shoulder and holds him in place.

"Where's the fire?" Terminus retorts.

"Well for one thing you're heading west not east. Secondly it's time for a little tutorial session. You'll be a liability to us out in the field if you try to figure things out as we go, and that's why we're going to the southern fields just outside of town so I can give you a little basic training. It was rarely traveled through during the beta since very few quests require you to go there, and it appears to still be that way according to what I've heard from other players while I was waiting." Zwei pointed out.

"This is your world here, so I'll follow your lead." Terminus said as he relents to his friend's superior experience with the game.

* * *

><p><em>It takes Terminus and Zwei about an hour to get to the gates south of town, however though that may be in part due to the sheer size of the Town of Beginnings the real reason is that Kevin couldn't help but stop at every armor shop, weapon shop, café, etc simply to take in both their stores and the design of the architecture to design them.<em>

"So beautiful…." Terminus said in awe as he starts to take in the sights outside of town.

"It is isn't it." Zwei followed.

_It was there Terminus saw in the distance the lush green hills with monsters grazing upon them, tall full forests, small towns resting on impossibly shaped landmasses over lakes, and all popped out to him even more because of the virtual sun shining its light over everything. After taking another minute or two to take in the beauty Terminus and Zwei continue on only for the next few minutes as their intended destination actually wasn't that far from the south gate. They stand at the top of one of these hills carefully nestled between a group of wild boars._

"I'd prefer to go a little farther, but there's no way to know what's changed since the beta. This way off chance we trigger some secret event the town gate and by proxy the safe area will be in running distance." Zwei explained.

"Safe Are….. wait never mind I just remembered what that is. What's your first lesson oh wise sensei?" Terminus chuckled.

"First things first I'm going to give you a better sword." Terminus said as already skimming through his menu screen.

"Excuse me?" Terminus said clearly confused by what his friend means.

"Oh while I was waiting for you I went to one of the weapon shops near where I logged in and bought a sword with some of the bonus starting funds I got as a reward for being a beta tester. I was actually surprised that I found something so rare." Zwei explains just as he closes some form of alert message that popped up in front of him.

"Dude it's your money, so you… huh 'Trade Request from: Zwei Est. Do you accept?'" Terminus was saying when he suddenly starts reading an alert message that popped up.

"I didn't spend all of it, so relax. Anyways just touch button shaped like a circle with your right hand so I can give this to you." Zwei retorts.

_Terminus decides to humor his friend by accepting his trade request, and the moment he does so a screen separated into two columns appear in front of him. One side represented whar Zwei was bring to the trade, the other side represented what Terminus was bringing not that he had anything to offer, and on the bottom of both columns is a small dial used to control how much money a party wishes to offer._

"Let's see… this thing is called the 'Key of Will' and if I'm reading this correctly this says it's a one-handed sword like my starting weapon." Terminus said aloud as he reads what pop's up on Zwei's half of the trade screen the moment it does so.

"For the trade to be final both players have to confirm their choices as final, but since I'm just giving you this press the circle shaped button at the bottom." Zwei explained

_And with a press of a button and quick high pitched sound effect, the one-handed sword 'Key of Will' now belongs to Terminus Ashbell._

"Alright now you equip it…. oh you're already doing it." Zwei was saying when he notices a flash of light behind Terminus.

"Now let's see what this look likes." Terminus mumbled as he pulls his new sword out of its scabbard using his left hand.

_It appears the 'Key of Will' has a long dark blue blade, with a white tinge at the edge, a golden cross-guard shaped like the scrolls on a Greek column, it's grip has been tightly wrapped with a white leather strip, and it's pommel is shaped like the horns of a goat._

"How does it feel?" Zwei asks as he watches Terminus take a few practice swings.

"Not quite wait…. that feels perfect. I know it's too early to be saying this since it's the first day, but this sword feels like an extension of my body." Terminus said as he switches to a reverse grip mid swing.

"You better hold onto it. That sword may very well be a quest item." Zwei pointed out.

"What do you mean by 'may very well be' Yu… sorry Zwei?" Terminus asks.

"When I bought the sword the NPC store owner went off on telling me and I quote 'Oh that's an interesting piece you pulled out. Let me tell you a story…. My grandpa used to tell me in my youth of a blade was used to seal off an ancient power in a temple centuries ago as too many have died trying to control it. He said the power was sealed away within the ruins of a maze within a maze. He told me that the very sword you hold is that blade, but I don't believe in such fairy tales so I decided to sell it to a young adventurer like you instead of having it gather up dust on a shelf. Now that I'm reaching the end of my years I suggest you hold onto that blade in case my grandpa was telling the truth.' I know a really long quote." Zwei answered.

"That doesn't answer my question." Terminus retorts.

"Unlike PC MMOs where you just have to click on an npc to start a quest, but here you have to give the right response under the right conditions when talking to an NPC to trigger the quest. Other times they might give you hints to the locations of other quests of which was sometimes on the floor above or below where you were, but you have to be careful as you follow up on these hints. Sometimes what NPCs say are just purposefully created wild goose chases, and other quests won't trigger until you're on sight after talking to the right person." Zwei said.

"Are you sure you want to give me something so valuable?" Terminus asks due to feeling guilty about the gift he was given.

"Don't worry about it just consider it your welcome gift from me. As for the stats…. It's way better then the Anneal Sword you'll get from one of the quests on the first floor, and as long as the level difference between monsters per floor hasn't too much since the beta it should last you to floor… 12…. I think if you don't have a blacksmith upgrade it. Speaking of which you can upgrade that sword about 23 times." Zwei explained as he tries to recall the average stats of the enemies to come.

"Did you really make it to floor 12 during the beta?" Terminus asks out of awe.

"No I made it as far as floor 6. I spent my time exploring each floor, and I'm just making my estimations based off of what I heard from other beta testers. For all I know with the final product being out that sword could actually take you twice as far or only as far as I got." Zwei explained.

"I guess there's only one way to find out. Do you mind if I try attacking a target that can bite back?" Terminus asks as he looks like he's spoiling for a fight.

"Hang on…. let me set up a target for you. You're nowhere near ready enough to fight off an entire mob at once." Zwei interjects as he picks a small rock off of the ground.

_Zwei raises his elbow backwards towards the sky and holds the hand with the rock in it just inches away from his face. He then takes a deep breath before that rock starts glowing a bright red, and the moment it does glow he throws that rock with all his might causing it to hit a boar on the side of the face. The boar turns in the direction of his shooter namely Zwei and runs as hard as it on its small feet. _

"What was that?" Terminus asks as he keeps his eyes on the charging boar.

"A sword skill for throwing objects, but for now just follow my directions." Zwei answered.

"Understood." Terminus retorts.

"Switch to a forward grip and block the boar in his tracks using your sword and both hands. Don't worry here in SAO you're more than strong enough to do that." Zwei ordered.

_Terminus switches to a forward grip as Zwei said and has his knees bent forward just like another man on the line in a football game, and then he charges forward like a linebacker going for the kill allowing him to easily stop the charging boar._

"Now switch the sword to your opposite hand, take a deep breath, and charge forward with all your might!" Zwei yelled.

_Terminus instinctively closed his eyes as he switched the sword to his opposite hand and in the process he could feel the boar already start to push him back, but then he hears a high pitched buzzing noise and decides to give into it. Once Terminus does do, a few seconds later he opens his eyes in the direction he believes his sword to be and notices a green glow around it slowly starting to fade. He then turns around and witnesses the boar's HP hit zero before it disappears from existence like a rock shattering glass._

"Did you like the feeling that just passed over you?" Zwei asks with a smile.

"Hell yeah….. Just what did I do?" Terminus asks as his hands are shaking from a rush of adrenaline.

"That was a one-handed sword skill." Zwei answered.

"I know that I meant which one." Terminus retorts.

"Ah… in that case that was the one-handed sword skill sonic leap. If you had your eyes opened you would have seen your arm make a large circular sweeping motion as you charged forward." Zwei explained.

"How many sword skills are there?" Terminus asks.

"Supposedly hundreds and all of them are triggered in battle through two methods. The first is as long as it's a sword skill you've already unlocked if you adjust your body to the right posture the system will trigger the corresponding skill automatically, and as you gain experience you'll learn how to quickly follow up with a constant flurry of sword skills despite the programmed cool down times for them all. The second way is to say the name of the sword skill you've unlocked out loud, but not many people do that because they're either too focused on fighting or if it's another player you won't want them to know what you're doing. There's also the matter of extra skills, but you don't need to worry about those right now." Zwei explained as he tries to summarize the basics of advanced battle tactics.

"So what should we do now?" Terminus inquired.

"Let's see… there are enough rocks here for us to draw about 5 more boars to us. After you're done with those I'll explain to you what 'Switch' is and we'll practice that for a bit. Oh and before I forget body posture aside, how you hold your weapon as you achieve that posture will also influence the effectiveness of the launched sword skill." Zwei explained as he quickly checks his item inventory.

_Instead of simply spamming sword skills like a beginner, Terminus decides to try and get his next few kills relying on his obviously limited skill with a sword. Swinging around a sword virtual or no is sitll something he has to get used to after all. From there it takes Terminus no more than 10 minutes to kill 5 wild boars with Zwei's support. Afterwards it surprisingly takes little effort for Zwei to explain the concept of "Switch" to his friend nor it does it take much time to apply it in theory. In any case these two old friends spend an hour in their little training session._

"Hahahaha it's been a long time since I've had so much fun." Terminus laughed as he and Zwei collapse on the hillside form exhaustion.

"Hmm… did you hear that?" Zwei asks as he raises his head off of the ground.

"No I didn't hear anything." Terminus answered.

"Sounds like wood bending from a lot of weight." Zwei explained.

"Actually yeah I can hear it now too." Terminus informed as he starts to sit upright.

_Then imagine the sound of a large piece of wood being nearly cracked all the way through, along with Zwei and Terminus sinking a few inches into the ground._

"Oh craaap!" Terminus and Zwei yelled as the ground collapses under their feet… or rears as the case may be.

_These two hit the muddy ground below hard, but thankfully not from a great height though high enough where they still suffer splash fall damage. Though that in itself matters little as they lose consciousness the moment they come into contact with the ground due to mental shock rather than the lack of physical pain._

Ouch man that hurt." Terminus mumbled as he staggers back to his feet.

"Don't worry you'll feel little to no physical pain from taking hits." Zwei said as he helps Terminus the rest of the way up.

"How long have we been out? Terminus asks.

"It's 5:25pm JST, so almost an hour and a half." Zwei answered as he tries to clean the mud off of his shirt.

"The ground's too muddy… so that means we can't climb out the same way we came in." Terminus pointed out as he examines the earthen wall around him and his friend in detail.

"We could use the teleport crystals, but they cost a lot to replace. I suggest we go down that…" Zwei was saying before he and Terminus were both mysteriously deafened without warning and blinded by a bright light.

* * *

><p><em>The sad part of that whole affair was that by the time Terminus and Zwei registered the lack of the two senses, they regained them a second later as just after a burst of blue light they found themselves standing back in the courtyard in the Town of Beginnings as thousands of other players are undergoing the same experience.<em>

"Forced Teleportation right?" Terminus asks.

"No way it could be anything else." Zwei retorts.

"Look up in the sky!" a random player yelled.

_Terminus, Zwei, Dendra or Haruhi wherever she is in this crowd all have their attention drawn to the flashing warning sign floating in the sky. Then more warning signs burst out from that spot spreading across the sky like wildfire turning it crimson like blood._

"What the heck is that? Is…. is that blood?" another random player yelled as blood started to leak out from these over glorified warning lights.

_Blood continues to leak out from the sky as it all gathers directly in front of the Black Iron Palace eventually forming some kind of shape, of which in turn transforms into a large imposing hooded figure wearing a large cloak and sow its hands aren't attached to its body._

"Attention, players. Welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko. I am currently the one and only person who can control this world. I'm sure most if not all of you have noticed that the logout button on the main menu has been removed. This is no mistake." Kayaba said as he opened the menu to prove his point.

"What? Seriously?!" Terminus yelled as he and Zwei both open up their main menus.

"Holy shit he's not lying." Zwei said in disbelief and shock when he sees for himself that the Log Out button was removed.

"I repeat…. It is not a mistake, but a feature of the true Sword Art Online." Kayaba informed.

"What kind of screwed up feature is that?!" Terminus and Zwei yelled simultaneously.

"You are all unable to log out of SAO, and nobody in the real world can remove the Nerve Gear or interrupt its operation. Should it be attempted, a powerful burst of microwave radiation emitted from a transmitter in the Nerve Gear will destroy your brain, thus ending your life." Kayaba declared as he revealed a horrible truth about this game.

"No way…. True." Zwei said as he starts going through a blue screen of death moment.

"Unfortunately, it's possible that a player's family or friends would ignore this warning and attempt to forcibly remove the Nerve Gear. As proof of this, 213 players have retired from both this world and the real one." Kayaba informed.

"213… players… this has to be some messed up prank." Zwei said.

"Haruhi….. please still be alive." Terminus thought.

"As you can see, news of my warning and the numerous victims are being spread worldwide. Thus, it should be safe to say that the danger of removal attempts has become minimal. I hope you will all be at ease and focus on completing the game. I'd like you all to keep this in mind. From this point on, all methods of revival in this game will no longer function. If your HP hits zero, your avatar will perish for eternity, and at that moment… the Nerve Gear will destroy your brain." Kayaba said as he has multiple live news broadcasts play in this game world of his.

"That means…. If I was reckless….. out in the field…. I could have died for real." Terminus thought as he starts to go through a blue screen of death moment of his own.

"I am not however a cruel man. There is only one condition you must meet to be free, and that is the completion of this game. You are all on the first floor, the lowest point in Aincrad. As you defeat a floor boss you'll be allowed to go onto the next level. Once you make it all the way to the top and defeat the 100th floor boss the game will be considered as cleared.

"What is this .Hack/Sign? Victory is seriously the only way to be free?" Terminus thought as he just now starts to come ever so slightly to terms with his new reality.

"One final note, I've prepared a present for all of you in your item storages. Take a look." Kayaba declared.

_Every player who could still move opened their inventories and found an ordinary looking mirror, but in reality….. or virtual reality this mirror was far from that. Slowly blue flames lit up around every single player purifying them of their false appearances and brought their true selves to life in this reality._

"What the hell I'm short again?! And you lost your hair." Zwei yelled as he pointed at his friend Terminus.

"What the…. I look me?" Terminus said as he looks at himself in the mirror.

"No…. we have to calm down….. it looks like some of the players were forcibly changed to look like their real selves." Zwei said after taking a deep breath as he examines the crowd around him.

"You're right…. Some seem to have their original hair colors…. but few seem to still have whatever color they set for their avatar." Terminus pointed out as he does the same.

"Right now, you're probably all wondering 'Why?' Why would I, Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online and the Nerve Gear, do such a thing? By doing this I have already achieved my goal. I created the world of Sword Art Online solely for my personal enjoyment. And now, the preparations are complete. This concludes the tutorial for the official launch of Sword Art Online." Kayaba informed.

* * *

><p><em>Slowly this avatar of Kayaba Akihiko disappeared from this place. His words may have built up chaos and darkness in the souls of all these players, but it was his disappearance that stirred them in a frenzy causing players to run in all directions. It caused so much chaos that time itself was unhinged causing reality to fast forward to a time long after this death game was cleared.<em>

"And that Eula Alright was where my childhood ended, where I was forced to become a warrior, and where I was forced down the road to become a leader." Kevin said as he concludes the events of this flashback.

"Wow…. I've heard this part of the story before from several survivors, but….. I've never been so enraptured before by it." Eula said in awe.

"There's a lot more to tell…. how my sword the 'Key of Will' allowed me to unlock one of the 10 unique extra skills in the game, how my wife and I fell in love, the chance we had to log out of the game without clearing it or dying, and many other things." Kevin said as a sullen look appears on his face once more.

"Wait…. you had a chance to leave the death game? How have I never heard of such a thing?" Eula asks.

"The 5 of us….. Haruhi, 2 other players, the black swordsman Kirito himself, and I decided to keep it a secret form other players because we knew what would happen. There is however, many a story I must tell first before I can get to that one. That is…. if you're still willing to listen." Kevin explained.

"I am, but can we resume this say….. the same time tomorrow? I have an appointment to interview someone for another story I'm working on." Eula respectfully asks as she gets up from her seat to leave.

"Sure. I'll even tell you about a part of our preparations to beat the floor boss that never made it into the anime that as you say was created as a memorial for those who never made it out, the first Extra Skill I unlocked, about Haruhi and Yuki's big sister, the first time I met Kirito before he gained his title, and… my first experience with death." Kevin answered not bothering to get up from his seat to show Eula out the door.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued<strong>

Terminus: It's been a month, so what are we going to do now?

Dendra: A meeting has been set to take place within the next couple of days.

Terminus: Next time on Sword Art Online: Quantum Bug "Hidden Extra Skill: Reverse Sword"

Zwei: The five of us are going to do a little dungeon diving.


	2. Hidden Extra Skill: Reverse Sword!

**Sword Art Online: Quantum Bug**

**Chapter 2**

**Hidden Extra Skill: Reverse Sword!**

* * *

><p><em>A day has gone by since CBS reporter Eula Alright started listening to the tale of Kevin Thomas… Terminus Ashbell the most famous of the American players unfortunate enough to get caught in the death game SAO. Yesterday was nothing more than a meet and greet with the husband and father of two, but today Eula came prepared as the news van she's riding in parks outside his house.<em>

"Are the two of you ready? Well regardless I'll take the makeup kit to the front door, and Silvia; in the mean time could you please help Daniel with the recording equipment?" Eula asks the two co-workers in the van with her.

_Today Eula's wearing a dark green blouse, but that information is inconsequential when compared to everyone else._

"Ha ha I appreciate the sentiment young lady, but I'm not so old that I can't do my job." Daniel laughs wholeheartedly.

_Though Eula has only been with CBS for a couple of years she's come to rely on and the 27 year cameraman veteran very much. A grey beard, a receding hairline, and the use of a working man's outfit makes him a loved member of the old guard._

"No it's alright. I'm stronger than I look sir, and I won't to do more than just carry a makeup kit when I can help it." Silvia interjects as she continues to reach for some of the recording equipment despite Daniel's objection.

_With Silvia being both same age as Eula and having started working for CBS around the same time as well it wasn't very long before they became friends… perhaps BFFs U dare say. Still regardless of her turtle neck using, glasses wearing, and nerdy appearance overall Silvia has a heart that never seems to stop giving off warmth._

"Excuse me Mr. Thomas, I'm here to hear the rest of your story and I've brought a couple of my co-workers with me this time. If you're home, could you please open the door?" Eula asks as she knocks on the man's front door just after she and her friends bring the last of their gear to the front door.

"Just a moment I'll be right there." Kevin said as Eula could hear after sticking her ear to the door the sound of a running faucet being turned off and clank of dishes being placed on a rack.

* * *

><p><em>Soon enough Eula saw the man who knew the truth she wanted to hear wearing dark blue pants and a red t-shirt before he warmly invited her and her co-workers inside. As Silvia helps Daniel set up a small amount of recording equipment Eula could finally take in the appearance of Kevin's home or at least the dining room. It had dark accented wooden floors, light green painted walls, dark leather couches, a television nestled in one corner, and right next to the entrance to the kitchen is a Greek styled picture frame naturally filled with pictures. Those pictures were things like a date Kevin had with his wife that clearly took place after they were freed from SAO, pictures of his wife holding their children right after they were born, and their first family outing. At any rate Eula only complimented Kevin's home simply because it was appropriate, and was in reality more interested in hearing his story than anything else.<em>

"I see your wife isn't here today either." Eula notes disappointed that she missed her chance to talk to the woman behind the man.

"Neither are my two kids. The missus took them to a last minute play date, so it's just the four of us." Kevin chuckled as he takes a sip from a cup of coffee he had prepared before Eula and her co-workers had even arrived.

"Ah well…. before we begin let me introduce you to my co-workers. The old man you see setting up lighting and recording equipment is Daniel Eric. The make-up artist you see powdering my face is Silvia Earnest, and she actually happens to be my room-mate." Eula said as she pointed to her respective co-workers.

"I don't mean to sound like a cheesy pickup line Ms. Earnest as I'm happily married, but… have we met before? It's just that you look oddly familiar; however I can't seem to place it." Kevin asks as Silvia's Japanese physical features trigger something in his memory.

"No… we um haven't met before." Silvia quickly answered due to apparently being surprised by Kevin's inquisition.

"What the…. why are you lying Silvia?" Eula thought as she was in turn surprised by Silvia's response.

"Alright boss I've finished up setting the last of the equipment, and I've turned on the camera so we're ready to begin whenever you feel like." Daniel informed as he hoists a large camera onto his shoulder.

"Ah very well then Daniel thank you. What about you Mr. Thomas? Are you ready to start?" Eula asks the man sitting across from her as she returns her attention to the task at hand.

"Yes I'm ready to tell you the next part of my story." Kevin politely answered.

"3… 2… 1… camera is rolling." Daniel declared.

"This is Eula Alright of CBS news interviewing for the second time SAO survivor and leader of the VRMMORPG guild Terminus Zwei." Eula said as she looks into the camera for a moment.

"This isn't live is it?" Kevin asks out of curiosity.

"No this is being recorded for future reference for the documentary we're putting together. Now before you begin with the second part of your story… Do you know how many people from other countries were unfortunate enough to be caught in SAO like you?" Eula inquired.

"About 150 people I think." Kevin said as he scratches the back of his head trying to recall that information.

"153 to be exact. There were 12 Americans, 9 Canadians, 10 Mexicans, 15 Italians, 18 from France, 5 from England, 25 from China, 19 from North and South Korea combined, 10 from Russia, and the remaining 30 from various middle-eastern nations." Eula retorts.

"60 of those 153 were made up roughly 75% of Terminus Zwei's membership, and in fact for that very reason we were called the UN of SAO." Kevin said as he chuckled slightly due to the irony of those statistics.

"That was something I was already aware of actually. Now if it's not too much trouble could we please resume from where we left off?" Eula asks making it clear from the look in her eyes that she wants to get things over with.

"All of the 1,000 beta testers were able to take part in the full game so when Kayaba announced his intentions most of them left the remaining 9,000 players to die at the beginning, but about 60 of them including Haruhi and Yuki took it upon themselves to help these helpless beginners. They taught them the skills to fight, advice for quests, the exact spawn times for monsters, told them where the various gathering points on the first floor, and many other things." Kevin informed.

"This is common knowledge. I want to know the part you and your friends played." Eula said hiding her annoyance at the fact Kevin was giving her what she considered to be unimportant information.

"It had been a month since we were all trapped in Sword Art Online, 2,000 people have already died, and the earliest members what would eventually become assault team were roughly between levels 8-10 due to the massive competition for resources. With Yuki as our leader he, Haruhi, one of Haruhi's friends from school, a Korean transfer student from the same exchange program as me who arrived in the country a month earlier, and I banded for survival together forming what you could call the embryo that ultimately became Terminus Zwei. Very early in the morning on the day before the Floor Boss meeting in Tolbana we were all acting on information about a small hidden dungeon we heard from Argo the Rat." Kevin explained.

* * *

><p><em>Terminus, Zwei, Haruhi or Dendra as she's called in SAO, Dendra's friend, and the Korean transfer student had just departed from the Town of Beginnings' south gate in a spread out wedge formation. This was still none the less the first floor and movements that required such tactical thought were really unnecessary, but they did so anyway simple because they still felt the shock from Kayaba Akihiko's declaration. At any rate Dendra stood at the front acting as the tip of their formation's proverbial spear, since he was left-handed Terminus covered their left flank with his one-handed sword, Zwei being right handed covered their right flank with his own blade, and Dendra's friend along with the Korean transfer student stood in the center between the three of them.<em>

"Are you sure this information is accurate Zwei?" the Korean transfer student asked as he kept his head on a swivel for any sign of danger.

_This Korean transfer student's avatar is level 7 with tan hair that contradicts his grey eyes, ginger red hair, and is 6' 7" an unusual height for only a 16 year old. Due to the massive competition for resources he's still stuck wearing the game's starting armor though with an orange color scheme in his case, but he has long since changed his starting weapon to an simplistically designed old wooden long bow with its handle being tightly wrapped with a grey cloth being carried on his back and a small dagger inside a scabbard attached to his left leg incase anything manages to get close. This young despite the somewhat of a lone wolf air he gives off seems to get along with all of his group mates save for Terminus. For some reason he always seems to direct animosity towards him._

"Argo has yet to steer us wrong Gnar, and besides… this is likely the last thing we're going to be able to do together as group before the meeting in Tolbana." Zwei points out.

_In the month since the game of life or death has started Terminus's level 9 best friend Zwei hasn't changed at all save for three details. First is that he fell into the role as a leader rather well, secondly he's changed his starting weapon to an «Anneal Blade +3», and finally he was one of the few players lucky enough to get some new chest armor from a monster drop despite the massive competition for resources. The chest armor itself is no more than a simple white jacket straight out of a fantasy novel._

"Are you sure we should be wasting our items for this dungeon even if it really exists?" Dendra asks as she thinks this particular outing is a waste of time.

_Dendra in game looks exactly like her real-life counterpart, but that's to be expected given the mirror Kayaba placed in the inventory of every player. Only three things has changed about her since she and the rest of her compatriots started fighting for their survival. The first being that she had her hair color changed to a faded light blue like her beta avatar apparently originally had, she was also the only among her friends equipped with a two-handed long sword, and finally like her brother her avatar was also level 9. Though she may be the tip of their wedge formation's proverbial spear, Dendra would much rather be standing as close to Terminus as possible._

"Look at the bright side Haruhi, the sooner we find this dungeon the more time you'll get to spendwith Terminus later…. especially when there's no one else watching." Dendra's friend whispers into Dendra's ear before returning to her assigned position in this formation.

"I… have no idea what you're talking about Aono." Dendra quickly whispers back before her face turns as red as a furnace.

_The second lovely lass in this group of 5 is also stuck wearing the game's starting armor only with a pink color scheme, unlike Gnar who uses a long bow she uses a short bow, and a small dagger as well only it's strapped to her right leg. The lass herself is 5' 4" with fair skin, impossibly blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and unlike Gnar has warmed up rather well to Terminus over the past month as a fellow level 8 player._

"Sorry, but what was that about me?" Terminus asks as he hears his screen name come up in the whispered mumblings between Dendra and Aono.

_Terminus's exterior appearance hasn't changed much over the month since he and his newfound allies were trapped in SAO save for the fact like Dendra he had his hair color changed to the bright hero red his avatar originally had, but he's done more over this past month then resting on his laurels. Thanks to his friend Zwei's tutelage he was able to reach level 8, develop a workable reverse one-handed sword style, unlock several knew sword skills, and thanks to a plucky young lady black smith upgrade his weapon to «Key of Will +3»_.

"Oh nothing Terminus, just girl talk." Aono said as she waved her hand downwards trying to dismiss her earlier conversation as a joke.

"Alright in case you were still half-asleep when we all got up this morning…. I'm going to repeat my explanation. A few days ago the word was spread across Floor 1 for all players level 7 and above to meet in Tolbana, so I decided to talk to Argo the Rat about any undiscovered group quests the 5 of us could do beforehand since we're all a few monster kills away from leveli-" Zwei was saying as he climbs to the top of one of the bigger hills.

"Yeah yeah we remember. Argo told you that after listening to multiple NPC conversations or hearing about them from other players, she determined that there might be a small hidden dungeon under one or more of these hills just outside the Town of Beginnings." Gnar interrupts clearly impatient as he just wants to get this over with.

"Hey let me finish! Ahem…. Argo also said that the key to opening the entrance or finding the way to open the entrance was carved onto two seemingly uninteresting rocks equidistant from the actual entrance; however she has no idea how to recognize them. The only place around here with rocks scattered across the hills is just a little southwest of here, so we're going to go over the area with a fine tooth comb." Zwei said as he concluded his explanation of what will be the day's activities.

"Whatever you say boss, but have you thought about how we're going to search this area? I mean we're all more than strong enough to handle whatever spawns in this area individually, but with all of these rocks it'll be easy for monsters to ambush us from behind and we risk being cut off from each other if simply finding these rocks triggers an event." Aono points out, but that's to be expected of her since she's acted as the voice of reason in Terminus's group over the past month.

"Gnar you're the only one of us with the «Climbing» and «Eagle Vision» skills, so because of that I want you to get on top of one of the larger rocks and see if anything sticks out." Zwei explained as he turned to face his aforementioned ally.

"If I don't see anything then can I join the search?" Gnar asks as he takes his bow out from behind his back.

"No I want you stay up there and act as fire support if you can unless one of us calls you. There's also the possibility that clues to the entrance might require a bird's eye view of the area to understand." Zwei explained.

"How will we search the area then?" Terminus asks his old friend as he takes a few swings with his sword in order to quickly warm up for any immediate fights to come.

"If Gnar doesn't notice something right off the bat Aono and my sister will search the northern half of the rocky field while you and I search the southern half Terminus. Each of us will let the others know if we find something or if something finds us." Zwei explained.

_Thankfully the biggest boulder in this field of rock covered hills sticks out like a sore thumb, so hopefully that will allow Gnar to use his talents their fullest potential. Meanwhile Zwei, Terminus, Dendra, and Aono have already spread several meters out using the boulder as a starting point._

"Does anything about where these rocks are placed stand out to you Gnar?" Zwei yells from his position in this formation of rocks.

"No noth… wait hold on I see a couple of boars just ahead of where you and Terminus are. They both have about a third of their health left, and they don't appear to be high level enemies" Gnar replies as he's already stringing an arrow on his bow.

_Meanwhile Terminus and Zwei are hiding behind a boulder just a few meters away from these two boars trying to decide among themselves what to do next._

"We could easily deal with the two of them in one go, and it doesn't look like they've noticed us either. What do you think Zwei?" Terminus whispers as he carefully peaks out from behind the boulder and sees that the two boars are only grazing.

"We could do that, but seeing two boars with reduced health is a little suspicious. That means either one or more players were just here and these boars haven't regenerated their health yet….. or it's a trap meant to lure players in." Zwei calmly answered.

"That means either a classic pitfall trap or a stronger than average monster will spawn if we get close." Terminus quickly deduces after thinking about his friend's explanation.

"Gnar deal with them if you can. Terminus and I will go around them and continue the search." Zwei said in a quick voice message he wrote to Gnar.

"Understood, but don't step into the line of fire." Gnar quickly types back in another message.

_The extra skill «Eagle Vision» functions like the zoom in feature on a camera in that it creates an interactive screen that either shows smaller objects behind it or objects in the distance in great detail. Though Gnar has only had the skill for a week, he's learned to use it as the equivalent of a sniper scope._

"These two should give me enough to level up anyway, and I can finally use the new sword skill I unlocked." Gnar thought as he turns his bow to a horizontal position.

_To Gnar, everything around him darkens save for himself and his target… a case of tunnel vision if you will. Then as he takes a deep, pulls back on the string of his long bow, and then he fires his arrow as it starts to glow a bright red akin to a roaring flame. The arrow banishes away the darkness around it like a car traveling through a tunnel at night. That arrow pierces the first boar sending him flying into the second, but the glowing arrow gets to the second boar first taking them both out in a single blow. As those two boars disappeared in an explosion of light blue polygons, a disappointed look appeared on Gnar's face as he realized he was 1 EXP short of leveling up._

"Nice job Gnar. Terminus and I are going to continue along our original path." Zwei gratefully said to Gnar in a message as indicated by the presence of multiple emoticons.

"What sword skill was that?" Terminus curiously asks as he sends a message to Gnar as well.

"That was the shooting AOE sword skill «Piercing Arrow». It essentially functions like a ranged version of «Vorpal Strike» a sword skill you'll unlock later. Though it was however one of the first sword skills you learned in the beta. Also pick up the arrows; I don't want to buy new ones if I can help it." Gnar quickly replied.

"Sigh… I don't get why he doesn't seem to like me very much." Terminus mumbles to himself as he opts out of replying to Gnar's message.

"Oh that's because he's had to listen to Dendra talking about you to her friends since he got here." Zwei explained as he examines one of the more unusually shaped rocks in detail.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Terminus asks as he bends down to do the same.

"He was bullied a lot because of his height when he first transferred in and Dendra as she showed him around the school was the first person that was nice to him, so basically… he considers you his rival for her affections." Zwei chuckled.

"Affections? Affections for what?" Terminus asks with a confused look on his face though Zwei can't see it since he's moved onto examining another rock.

Wow… you are really….. really something my old friend." Zwei mumbled to himself as he was impressed by the depths of his friend's ignorance.

_Meanwhile on the other side of this rocky filled series of hills Aono and Dendra aren't having much better luck in their search for the entrance of this small dungeon. _

"No nothing… geez this is getting so irritating." Dendra said clearly annoyed with herself.

"Now now I know it's getting a little annoying, but your brother has gotten us out of some tight spots before. Still you're very lucky lady none the less." Aono points out to Dendra in a straightforward yet subtly promiscuous tone.

"Lucky how?" Dendra retorts as she moves onto examining another rock.

"Ohhh you know… a tall handsome lone wolf and an overtly good natured childhood friend from another country both vying your attention. I suggest that if you still prefer Terminus that you hurry up and grab him… or… because of all the stories you told me I may snatch him up for myself."Aono answered in an obviously fake flirty tone as she wagged her fingers.

"No absolutely not, I won't allow it!" Dendra quietly yelled with a face as red as cherries after contemplating her friend's statement for half a second.

"Awww how cute, but you don't need to worry I was just kid-" Aono was saying when all of a sudden her ears flared up causing her to raise one hand to silence Dendra and to place the other next to her ear.

"What is it?" Dendra asks.

"A few monsters just spawned near us, but my «Listening» skill isn't high enough for me to tell exactly where. Probably should have gotten the «Searching» skill after all." Aono explained as she scratched the back of her head while Dendra was already sending a message to Gnar.

"I just sent a message to Gnar expla-… oh he's already sent a response saying '4 tightly grouped Boars behind the boulder 8m north of your pos. Will attempt to inflict stun with AOE shooting sword skill, but be ready to move in regardless of success.' It seems easy enough, so let's get to it." Dendra said as she and Aono started dashing towards the pre-described position.

_Gnar gently shakes the quiver attached to his back after sending his response to Dendra as if he was trying to determine the number of shots he has left from the noise it makes._

"Let's see… I have about 38 arrows left, and….. those boars are about 6m from me with no obstructions… alright this should be an easy shot." Gnar thought after assessing the distance between him and his target while already stringing another arrow on his bow.

_Gnar both holds and raises his bow at a 45 degree angle as he pulls the string back as far as it can possibly go._

"Focus on the target in your scope, keep pressure on the string, and once you have your shot… follow through." Gnar thought as he takes a deep breath.

_Though the system behind SAO would take care of aiming once a sword skill was triggered, Gnar couldn't help but try and aim manually up until the moment his intended sword skill kicks in. It was there in that moment the arrow strung across Gnar's bow started to glow a bright faded blue before he released it allowing it to fly through the sky. Why if this battle were to be occurring at night a player observing from a distance would assume it was a system simulated shooting star. At any rate the arrow itself strikes true right in the center of the open patch of land in between this tightly packed group of boars giving off one final burst of light stunning these creatures before fizzling away into nothingness._

"AOE shooting sword skill «Luce Pin»." Gnar thought as he strings yet another arrow on his bow for the next person who might need him.

"He gave us our opening, so let's go!" Dendra yelled as she charged out from the blind spot of the pack of boars.

_Dendra runs towards this pack of boars with her simply designed great sword stopping when she's only a few centimeters away from her target. Once at her destination Dendra brings her sword close to her body on her left side holding it vertically as she points in straight at her target._

"Let's see how you all like «Blast» the first sword skill I learned." Dendra thought as a dark orange glow began to consume the blade of her weapon.

_First Dendra raisers her blade above her head on her left side, then she brings it down to the right upon the first boar in her path, then she spins her body along the direction of her weapon allow her to bring it over her body and down on the second boar in this pack, she then follows up by placing her right foot forward, next she brings her blade as far as she can left with her right arm, and with one final large wide horizontal slash she cuts through the two remaining boars in one go._

"Damn it, that still wasn't enough?!" Dendra yelled in the confines of her own mind.

"Down!" Aono bellowed as she pulls four arrows from her quiver in between her fingers.

_At her friend's command Dendra planted her entire body face down on the semi-pebble covered grassy hills. Then a few seconds later once her friend was out of danger, Aono gets down on one knee while stringing four arrows on her bow simultaneously. Once she pulled the string back as far as her short bow would allow the tips of her arrows began to glow a bright light forest green._

Now let's see how you like my «Volley»!" Aono yelled right before she let her arrows fly through the air.

"There she goes calling her moves out loud again." Dendra thought as she places her hand over her face.

_Each of the four arrows that Aono fired travels at the same speed as eachother horizontally within a 57 degree cone. Compared to other shooting sword skills or other sword skills in general the system usually takes care of the aiming, but in the case of this skill it plays little role forcing the caster to rely more on luck than anything else. Thankfully enough luck in this case is on Aono's side as each arrow strikes true upon the 4 boars finally taking them out._

"Congratulations Gnar!" Dendra yelled as she and the rest of her party mates saw Gnar's level up alert message.

"It was nothing!" Gnar yells back as he tries to pull off a 'Cool Guy' pose from the top of the boulder he's standing on.

* * *

><p><em>Though these rock covered hills don't take very much space when compared to the square footage of the rest of the first floor, it still takes Terminus and his friends over 2 hours to search a mere 30% of the area. This was simply because they didn't want to miss what could be an easy dungeon to clear just because they lacked the willingness to put in the necessary effort. Terminus and his other compatriots may have all been willing to follow Zwei to the depths of hell, but none of them could deny that they each on some individual level questioned the necessity of their current course of action. There would also be those who questioned these actions among those who would later hear about this tale.<em>

"I'm sorry, but… what does this dungeon have to do with any of your accomplishments?" Eula asks.

"It has a lot to do with… no it has everything to do with all of the things I've done in SAO." Kevin said changing his words midsentence as he realized the seriousness of them.

"Really? How so?" Eula asked as she was clearly surprised by the sudden seriousness in Kevin's words.

"If it wasn't for the quest that came with us finding this dungeon my friends and I wouldn't have survived our part in the defeat of the first floor boss, the guild Terminus Zwei would have never existed, my wife and I would have never fallen in love, our kids would never have been born, and most importantly nearly all if not all of surviving the SAO players would have been enslaved to a psychopath wanting to play god with human emotions." Kevin said in an even more serious tone than before.

"God with huma… you're talking abou-" Eula was saying as she had a sudden revelation.

"Yes… him. That person's involvement relates to how some of us had the chance to leave the death game without having to risk our lives trying to complete, but I will admit we had no clue as to his involvement in that whole debacle until long after the game was cleared. As I said before the five of us kept that fact a secret for a good reason, and I'm sure you want to hear it but I simply can't tell you until we run though everything else that led up to it." Kevin explained after taking a minute to calm down.

"I see….. I promise from this point on that I won't interrupt you simply to question the importance of your actions, but I hope you don't mind me interrupting you so I… so we can understand them." Eula said as she realizes she's on the job and not personal time right now.

"It's quite alright Ms. Alright. Save for the therapist I talked to after the fact, I've actually never told anyone what happened from start to finish before and even then I never told my therapist everything." Kevin said as a saddened look appeared on his face once more.

"Do you plan to lie to me as well?" Eula understandably asks given Kevin's statement.

"I will skip over any unnecessarily mundane details of my adventures, but no…. I won't lie or hold out on any of the important events in SAO that I was a part of. If you ask, I'll also answer honestly about everything I know of the affairs I wasn't part of." Kevin calmly answered.

"Right…. well once again I'm sorry for my interruption. Now could we please continue from where we left off?" Eula respectfully requests.

"Right….. now where was I?" Kevin said as he begins to resume his journey through the events of oh so many years ago.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued<strong>

Gnar: This is strange…. there were nowhere near this many monsters outside the labyrinth entrance yesterday.

Zwei: Diavel, I'll take my party and draw as much of the mob's attention as I can.

Dendra: Nee-sama how are you even here?

Terminus: Next time on Sword Art Online: Quantum Bug "Hidden Extra Skill: Reverse Sword Part 2"

Zwei: Listen to me Terminus, you have to get my sister out of this world.

Terminus: Bastard, I will find you and when I do I will kill you!

* * *

><p><strong>Shooting Skill<strong>

**Sword Skill**

**Piercing Arrow**

Description: It functions like the one-handed sword skill Vorpal Strike. The arrow once fired will pierce through up to 2 targets inflicting somewhat reduced damage with each hit. If the skill fails to meet a certain physical resistance check after coming into contact with a target, the fired arrow will not pierce through it.

**Luce Pin**

Description: AOE Sword skill with a chance to inflict stun on the target hit by the skill as well as any enemies near the point of contact.

**Volley**

Description: A sword skill that fires 4 arrows within a 57 degree cone inflicting damage to whatever target an individual arrow hit. Can be used for crowd control against multiple enemies or fired at close range at a single target to stack damage.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yes I'm aware of the fact that the Shooting Skill was something that only existed in SAO as a skill unlocked by Sinon in SAO: Hollow Fragment, but there was no reason why such a skill couldn't exist in SAO from the start. At any rate any Original Sword Skills that is to say sword skills of my own design, I will list them at the end of the chapter they first made an appearance in. If they're not listed here than any other Sword Skill mentioned in the chapter were created by the developers of the series. "The Eclipse" being a prime example of that fact.

Secondly, I'd like to announce the fact that I'm accepting 2 and only 2 OC submissions. Feel free to submit your character via a review or a PM. Please use the template below and tell me what you think of the story so far. I will not consider your OC no matter how well written otherwise if you don't do the former of these two things, buet the record the latter is optional.

**Real Name:**

**SAO Name:**

**Gender:**

**Age:**

**Personality:**

**Appearance: **(For this part if you are willing try and include how their appearance and equipment changes over the course of the game like how Asuna and Kiritio's appearance changed over the course of the game.

**Equipment: **(Just like how Kirito and Asuna changed gear over the course of SAO and all RPGs in general, their new equipment had names. I'd like to know what the name of your character's gear is.

**Fighting Style: **(If it's a one-handed weapon do the use it in their left or their right? Do they hold it normally or in a reverse grip? Do they use embody a real world martial art techniques corresponding to that weapon? Or do they develop a completely original style of their own when not using Sword Skills.

**Likes/Dislikes:**

**Death: **(If I decide to kill off your submitted character down the road how would you imagine it be done? Will they die a hero's death holding off a small army of monsters so their friends can get away? Will they be cruelly offed by Laughing Coffin? Things of that nature really)


End file.
